BXG - 76

As Gao Yunyue recounted her story, her expression remained eerily blank, as if she were narrating someone else’s tragedy. Yet to Qu You, every word dripped with blood.

“To buy me time to escape Bian capital and save Sir Shisan…” Gao Yunyue lowered her eyes, tears streaming down unconsciously. Her voice was strained, each syllable heavy with despair, “…Sister Chun willingly entered the Crown Prince’s household as his concubine.”

Qu You pulled her into an embrace, and this time, Gao Yunyue couldn’t hold back any longer. She sobbed uncontrollably into Qu You’s shoulder.

“Yunyou, Mother and Father… they’re gone. Sister Chun, Sir Shisan… The court is in chaos now. How can we let such a vile person ascend the throne? What should I do? What can I possibly do? Along the way, I was fortunate to have Master Ren protect me. If I’d been alone, I doubt I would’ve made it to Ruozhou. Only now do I realize how helpless I truly am. How can I avenge my parents… Yunyou…”

Tears streamed uncontrollably down Qu You’s face. She had once thought that if turmoil arose in Bian capital, she might delay Zhou Tan’s return for a little longer—just a little more time. But now, faced with these events, she realized there was nothing she could do to stop what was coming.

Such blood debts, such enmities—they could not be left unresolved. They demanded closure at any cost.

Exhausted from days of hardship, Gao Yunyue fainted after crying for only a short while. Ren Shiming gently took her from Qu You’s arms and carried her to the bed with utmost care. He then murmured softly, “Sister-in-law, please arrange for maids to attend to Miss Gao. She has suffered greatly through all this. Though I did my best to protect her, being a man, there were limits to what I could do.”

Qu You nodded, giving instructions before stepping out. Ren Shiming intended to accompany her to see Zhou Tan, but it was already late, so he decided to wait until morning.

Qu You wasn’t sure what emotions guided her steps as she returned home. When she came to her senses, she found herself standing beneath several apricot trees in the courtyard.

The blooming season here in the west was longer than in Bian capital. Just the other spring night, she and Zhou Tan had pledged their eternal bond under the shadow of apricot blossoms. Now, barely two flowering cycles later, fate had thrust them onto the edge of a blade.

Every step forward was soaked in blood, yet retreat was impossible. This was the destiny of martyrs.

Zhou Tan’s destiny—and hers.

It seemed he had spotted her silhouette through the paper window because one of the intricately carved wooden windows suddenly opened. With the motion, a cascade of white petals swirled around them like rain.

Wearing only his inner robe and without lighting candles, Zhou Tan leaned against the window frame, smiling warmly at her.

Beside them hung the lamp Qu You had instructed Hexing to light daily. Beneath its dim golden glow, the falling petals danced languidly, wrapping the scene in tender melancholy.

What a beautiful night.

But she knew that come morning, none of this would remain.

The moon was setting, stars fading, and above the western frontier stretched endless clouds of sorrow, stretching far beyond the horizon into desolate lands.

Yet Zhou Tan still asked her, “Do you know what tomorrow is?”

Qu You repeated blankly, “What day is it?”

“Silly girl, it’s your birthday.” Zhou Tan chuckled softly, leaning on the windowsill. “Come inside; I have something for you.”

He lit a candle by the bed and beckoned her to sit. Then, retrieving a neatly bound manuscript from his desk, he walked over, saying, “A few months ago, I gathered your drafts from the prefecture office. Coincidentally, I also had some ideas. Perhaps we can implement them together… During my illness, I compiled our thoughts into this work, refining it meticulously. Since you’ve always studied penal codes, I believe… you’ll like it.”

An overwhelming premonition gripped her—a formless, intangible force that tightened around her throat like phantom whispers. Sounds began rushing past her ears.

The rustling of pages, leaves swaying, wind howling, muffled thuds of library shelves being organized, the gurgle of water boiling coffee during sleepless nights.

Alarm clocks blaring, distant school bells ringing, microphone feedback before lectures, countless raindrops tapping against windows during late-night vigils.

Her mentor’s clear voice reading aloud the name “Zhou Tan” before a white projection screen.

Her fingers brushed faintly against the pages of Spring Sandalwood Collection .

Beneath Tianmen Pagoda, she heard the distant tolling of bells from Xiugqing Temple.

On the city walls, a woman sang songs of foreign lands.

Sky lanterns floated lazily upward, vanishing into the dark expanse.

And she closed the book, lowering her gaze to see Zhou Tan’s slender, angular calligraphy inscribed on the cover—

The Tanghua Decree .

The sounds abruptly ceased.

She stared blankly at the book in her hands, finding absurdity in its existence, yet somehow feeling it was inevitable. Tears flowed ceaselessly, soaking the pages.

Zhou Tan looked surprised. “Aling, what’s wrong?”

But Qu You merely lowered her gaze, laughing softly.

She remembered the foggy night atop Jinghua Mountain.

“All happiness… desires everything to exist forever… desires honey, desires dregs, desires drunken midnight revelry, desires graves, desires tears and solace beside tombs… desires gilded twilight skies.”

Zhou Tan didn’t understand and asked, “Are these words from your teacher… Brother Ni?”

She raised her tear-streaked face to meet his gaze, wiping away her tears and smiling. “Yes. He believed that true happiness isn’t about avoiding suffering—it’s about bravely accepting it.”

When she first read Nietzsche’s theory of eternal recurrence, she felt confused. If all pain and joy repeated infinitely across past and future, could one truly face a world both unknown and known?

Now, she had her answer.

If Zhou Tan stood beside her, even knowing everything would endlessly cycle, she still had the courage to face the impending tragedy. For they were both martyrs, and holding hands, they glimpsed true freedom.

—Happiness demands eternity for all things, deep, profound eternity!

When Qu You awoke the next morning, the sun was already high in the sky.

Its warm rays filtered through the paper window, casting a soft glow on her eyelashes.

Hexing brought in a plate of pastries. Rubbing her eyes, Qu You got out of bed and asked, “Is Master out? Has his cold improved?”

Hexing smiled and replied, “Early this morning, the black-clad attendant arrived at the residence. Master woke earlier than you and forbade us from calling you. After speaking briefly with the attendant, he left in a hurry.”

Only then did Qu You slowly recall everything that had happened the previous day. She picked up the teacup beside her and took a sip, the bitterness making her tongue tingle—she liked strong tea in the morning, and Hexing, who had brewed it for years, knew her preferences well.

She sat motionlessly at the table for a while before heading to the inn where Gao Yunyue and Ren Shiming were staying.

Both had already risen but cautiously remained indoors.

To her surprise, Zhou Tan wasn’t there.

She had assumed Ren Shiming, eager to see his brother, had sent the black-clad attendant early in the morning.

So where had Zhou Tan gone?

Seeing her arrive alone, Ren Shiming approached to greet her and asked, “Sister-in-law, didn’t Brother come with you?”

Qu You shook her head. “He had urgent matters and went to the prefecture office. Rest assured—he’ll be here soon.”

With daylight fully upon them, she now noticed how much thinner Gao Yunyue had become. Concerned, she asked, “Are you using medicine for your facial wound?”

Gao Yunyue covered her face and glanced at Ren Shiming. He gently explained, “We visited a clinic when we arrived in the west. They prescribed some medicine for healing and stopping the bleeding, but as for scars…”

Before he could finish, the door was abruptly pushed open.

Qu You turned her head to see Zhou Tan standing behind her—he had clearly run over, panting heavily, his hair slightly disheveled. His gaze first landed on her.

In that moment of eye contact, Zhou Tan understood why she had cried last night.

Ren Shiming dropped to his knees with a thud, addressing him solemnly, “Brother!”

Zhou Tan withdrew his gaze and extended a hand as if to help him up, but before he could touch him, he erupted into a fit of heavy coughing.

Qu You quickly rose to support him, anxiously saying, “Your cold hasn’t healed yet. You mustn’t overexert yourself.”

Ren Shiming crawled forward on his knees, concern etched on his face. “Brother, Sister-in-law told me you’ve been unwell recently…”

“Rise, rise,” Zhou Tan leaned on Qu You’s arm and sat on a nearby stool. Unaccustomed to such direct displays of concern, he awkwardly added, “It’s just a minor illness. No need to worry.”

He had never been one for overt expressions of affection, even when he lived in the Ren household. But now, looking at Zhou Tan, Ren Shiming felt his heart sink heavily.

Shame, guilt, and unease intertwined, leaving him without the courage to meet his brother’s eyes again.

That day, after relaying Qu You’s words to his mother, she tossed and turned, writing several letters that went unanswered. Finally, she took him back to Jinling personally.

His father, weakened by his time in prison, rarely involved himself in external affairs anymore and hadn’t accompanied them. It was only then that Ren Shiming realized his younger brother had once considered joining Fu Qingnian’s faction.

Growing up, their mother had always been strict while their father indulgent. But this time, his father was truly enraged, dragging him to the ancestral hall and administering corporal punishment himself.

“I taught you since childhood to grow into an adult who understands propriety, righteousness, integrity, and shame. Yet you ignored right and wrong, bowing to a treacherous chancellor. Tell me—is this not disloyalty?”

“Disobeying elders, betraying siblings, neglecting your brother’s wedding—is this not filial impiety?”

At the time, Ren Shiming still hadn’t fully believed Qu You’s words. Clenching his teeth, he knelt stubbornly on the prayer mat, enduring the blows until the pain became unbearable. Then, with a bitter laugh, he retorted, “A kind father begets a filial son; a loving brother earns respect. In Father’s eyes, isn’t Zhou Tan a villain?”

Ren Pingsheng dropped the ruler in his hand and collapsed onto the ground beside him, speechless.

Ren Shiming kept his head bowed. After a long silence, he heard his father’s restrained, sorrowful sobs.

“I know why you and your mother went to Jinling. Some truths… you insist on seeing written proof before believing. But can’t you sense others’ hearts with your own senses?”

He recalled his father staring blankly at a painting Zhou Tan had once gifted him—Autumn Moon Over White Frost .

“You and your mother are his blood relatives!”

Since helping her cousin escape years ago, Ren Shiming’s mother had been ostracized by the main family. Yet this time, when she came, the Bai family surprisingly didn’t bar her. The elderly patriarch personally met her, his gaze sweeping over Ren Shiming. “Your son is just like you—ungrateful.”

“Xiaobai begged me repeatedly not to tell you about this. But I see you’re confused, unable to fathom worldly affairs or human nature. When the Ren family sought marriage, Qiu gave you a favor before departing, elevating your status. After so many years in Bian capital, do you still think you did the Bai family’s eldest daughter a kindness?”

“My daughter has never needed anyone’s charity.”

His mother’s face turned deathly pale, like a ghost.

After returning home, she fell gravely ill, slipping in and out of consciousness for days. Only upon hearing that Zhou Tan was leaving the city did she struggle to the city walls, lingering there for a long time.

From then on, Ren Shiming abandoned his former self.

Life was short. Why waste it being insincere, squandering love, and missing precious moments?

But this wasn’t the time to reminisce. Gao Yunyue hurried down from the bed, urgently calling out, “Young Lord Zhou—”

Qu You swiftly caught her before she could kneel directly in front of Zhou Tan.

“The black-clad attendant has already explained everything to me, Miss Gao…” Zhou Tan closed his eyes painfully, his dark lashes trembling slightly. “Did Chancellor Gao… pass away peacefully?”

“After Father was imprisoned, he refused to confess, shouting ‘The nation is in peril!’ three times during the public humiliation parade. He was executed at Dianhong Terrace.” Gao Yunyue tilted her head upward, no longer shedding tears, though the trembling of her chest betrayed her emotions. “Father said it was because he didn’t heed Young Lord Zhou’s advice that this fate befell him. He only hoped Young Lord Zhou would do everything in his power to rid the people of harm.”

Zhou Tan’s knuckles whitened as he clenched his fist on the table, veins protruding.

After wiping away her tears, Gao Yunyue asked, “Young Lord Zhou, what connection does the old Su case have with the Crown Prince?”

Gao Ze had only vaguely mentioned this before his death, keeping it even from Ren Shiming. Upon hearing these four words, Zhou Tan let out a bitter smile. “Chancellor Gao must have uncovered the truth about the Su case, which led to his demise at the Crown Prince’s hands… Perhaps I shouldn’t have told him.”

Clearing his throat, he averted his gaze. “If Miss Gao wishes to know, I can tell you the truth. But I have another matter to attend to…”

Behind him, the black-clad attendant respectfully handed over a brocade box. From it, Zhou Tan retrieved two memorials sealed in bright yellow envelopes, each adorned with a crane feather.

Qu You exclaimed in astonishment, “What is this…?”

“This morning, I received these from Bian capital,” Zhou Tan said gravely. “His Majesty issued two secret edicts, urgently summoning me to contact General Chu Lin and return to the capital to await orders. It seems…”

For a moment, no one spoke.

Song Chang’s sudden dispatch of secret edicts to Zhou Tan, far away in Ruozhou, ordering him to bring Chu Lin back to the capital, carried an unmistakable implication. As his previous letter hinted, in times of crisis, he realized all his calculations left him without a single trustworthy person.

Finally, he remembered his loyal old friend—and the loyal son of that friend.

Zhou Tan glanced back. The black-clad attendant immediately understood, closing the door and signaling the accompanying guards to clear the inn’s guests. Within moments, they were ten paces away.

As it was early morning, it didn’t take long for the inn to empty, leaving only the five of them.

Only then did Zhou Tan speak. “Chuyue, you should be somewhat familiar with the old Su case.”

Ren Shiming nodded hesitantly. “In the year Brother returned to Bian capital after his provincial posting, a shocking murder case occurred in the bustling Fanlou. Minister of Revenue Su Huaixu was assassinated. The Ministry of Justice and the Dianxing Temple jointly investigated but ultimately arrested an unknown scapegoat to close the case… Someone with immense power suppressed the investigation and secretly dealt with the officials involved. Brother told me about it later—apparently, the murderer was a noble royal relative who bribed someone to ensure that even the Su family didn’t pursue justice.”

Su Huaixu was Su Chaoxi’s father.

Zhou Tan hummed softly. “As for the identity of the murderer, you should already understand by now.”

Gao Yunyue spoke bitterly. “It was the Crown Prince.”

She paused briefly. “Minister Su Huaixu was a respected upright official. He had no enmity with the Crown Prince. Why would he risk so much to commit murder at Fanlou?”

Zhou Tan’s gaze drifted, as if lost in distant memories.

Finally, he simply stated tersely, “The Crown Prince is not the Empress’s biological son.”

His words hit like a boulder dropped into still water. Ren Shiming flinched in shock. “What?”

Qu You lowered her eyes, deep in thought.

Though Song Chang acted recklessly, he placed great importance on lineage and the distinction between legitimate and illegitimate heirs. Even after his first wife passed away shortly after giving birth, leaving the position of empress vacant until he ascended the throne, he early on designated Song Shiyu, the eldest legitimate son, as the crown prince.

And he never remarried.

“The Empress hailed from a prestigious family but was initially out of favor when she married His Majesty… At the time, Minister Su’s younger sister was close to the Empress and often visited the Crown Prince’s residence. One day, the Empress took a liking to a maid accompanying her and kept her.” Zhou Tan summarized hurriedly due to time constraints. “His Majesty favored this woman because of her Western Shao heritage but did not grant her any formal title. The Empress intended to use her to gain favor, but unexpectedly, the woman drank an anti-conception potion, becoming pregnant earlier than the Empress. Furious, the Empress ordered her confinement to the punishment chamber.”

In his youth, Song Chang was a libertine. Having granted no title to the woman, he soon forgot about her after a few favors, unaware of her pregnancy.

Moreover, not long after her confinement to the punishment chamber, the Empress was diagnosed with a pregnancy pulse by the imperial physician.

On one side, celebrations were underway; on the other, darkness reigned in the cold punishment room. The woman endured immense suffering there, harboring deep hatred for both the Empress and Song Chang.

At the time, Song Chang had not yet ascended the throne, so security in the Crown Prince’s residence wasn’t as strict as in the palace.

The woman gave birth on the same day as the Empress. The old matron delivered her child just as news arrived that the Empress had hemorrhaged to death after childbirth.

For a fleeting moment, vindictive satisfaction crossed the woman’s mind. But then, she devised an even more sinister plan.

Originally a Western Shao infiltrator who concealed her identity to seek livelihood in Bian capital, she was noticed for her beauty and taken in by the Su family as a maid. Yet, she never forgot her homeland.

Known for her gentle demeanor, she had buried gifts from Song Chang and the Empress beneath an ancient tree in the backyard. Now, she retrieved them, sharing half with the elderly matrons and bribing a wet nurse. Amidst the chaos following the Empress’s death, she swapped the two infants during the night.

Shortly after succeeding, she fled the Crown Prince’s residence hidden in a dung cart, taking the Empress’s biological child with her.

From then on, the Western Shao woman’s son was raised as the Empress’s legitimate heir.

Later, upon ascending the throne, Song Chang posthumously honored his late wife as Empress, and thus, the child became the crown prince by default.

Years later, Su Huaixu coincidentally encountered the Western Shao woman again. Her striking beauty had left a lasting impression on him back when she served at his estate.

Now aged and deranged, she wandered the streets. Spotting him, she pleaded desperately, though incoherently, for him to arrange a meeting with the Crown Prince.

After much delay, fearing she might possess heirlooms of the Empress, Su Huaixu hosted a banquet at Fanlou, inviting the Crown Prince. Midway through the feast, he brought the woman forward.

To his utter astonishment, the woman was feigning madness.

Upon seeing the Crown Prince, she wept bitterly, lunging at him while alternately crying “my child” and laughing maniacally, demanding a blood test to confirm their relationship.

Horrified, Su Huaixu hastily dismissed all guards but failed to evade before the Crown Prince detained him.

The Crown Prince adamantly refused to believe he was the son of this madwoman. Initially intending for Su Huaixu to witness the test, he was chilled to the bone when their blood fused instantly in water. In that moment, he recalled his uniquely curly hair and deeper-set eyes compared to his siblings.

To conceal this secret, he decisively drew his sword and killed Su Huaixu.

Murdering a minister was a grave offense for the crown prince. Knowing he couldn’t hide it, he dramatically offered his resignation, claiming intoxication and accidental killing.

This calculated retreat worked perfectly. To protect the Crown Prince, Emperor De suppressed the case using imperial authority to appease the Su family.

However, what the Crown Prince didn’t anticipate was that Su Huaixu had confided in another person before bringing the woman to meet him.

Gu Zhiyan.

After Su Huaixu’s death, Gu Zhiyan immediately grew wary, advising Zhou Tan to publicly withdraw from the Su case investigation.

Unexpectedly, Su Chaoxi, having lost his father, sought Zhou Tan’s help. After kneeling all night at Gu Zhiyan’s residence, they finally persuaded him otherwise.

The Western Shao woman hadn’t been meticulous in covering her tracks, and some of Su Huaixu’s servants escaped. Piecing together fragments of information, Zhou Tan and Su Chaoxi uncovered the truth.

Swearing vengeance, Su Chaoxi temporarily retreated for self-preservation, resigning to mourn his father at home. Meanwhile, Zhou Tan strategically impeached him several times in court, even after the mourning period ended, preventing his reinstatement.

Both understood that if Su Chaoxi remained in politics, even unknowingly, the Crown Prince would view him as a threat, potentially eliminating him under any pretext.

It was precisely this absurd Su case that led both Gu Zhiyan and Zhou Tan to abandon supporting the Crown Prince definitively.

Gao Yunyue and Ren Shiming were utterly dumbfounded. Though Qu You felt astonished, she reflected cynically. Beneath the glittering surface of this dynasty lay murky secrets—even Song Chang’s own lineage was uncertain. Who knew how many palace scandals hid behind those crimson walls?

Having witnessed such intrigues once, she couldn’t help but think sarcastically:

Truly, neither father nor son.

But… she now understood why the Crown Prince had colluded with the Western Shaos.

Indeed, every written history leaves traces to follow.